"US President Barack Obama has said 'every single available resource' of government will be deployed to help contain the Gulf Coast oil leak. ...

The US government has designated the Gulf of Mexico oil spill as an 'incident of national significance'.

This allows it to draw on resources from across the country to deal with the leak. ...

President Obama has dispatched high-level administration officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, to the area.

He has also ordered environmental agency officials to inspect all offshore oil rigs and platforms to make sure they adhere to US safety codes.

Speaking at the White House, Mr Obama said: "While BP is ultimately responsible for funding the cost of response and clean-up operations, my administration will continue to use every single available resource at our disposal, including potentially the Department of Defence, to address the incident."
BBC News had the story April 29, 2010.[2] See Also: